After a tough loss to the Ottawa Senators, a lot of people look at tonight's matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes as a must-win. I know it's early in the season, but with a struggling defense and a shaky goalie situation, the Flyers must handle their business against a weak team.
Look for Claude Giroux to have a big game. He has three goals and four assists against the Hurricanes this year.
The folks over at Canes Country, a great Hurricanes blog, answered a few of our questions about tonight's matchup.
With the 'Canes and Flyers meeting up for the fourth and final time this year, what can Flyers fans expect to see from this Carolina team that we did not see in previous meetings?
Under new coach Kirk Muller, the Hurricanes have become more aggressive on the forecheck and at pressuring the puck. Team defense continues to be a problem though, so the Flyers probably will not notice any difference there. Eric Staal's game has picked up and he could be more dangerous that what he was earlier.
The Eastern Conference is very tight, and the Flyers are having goaltender issues. From someone with a perspective outside of the city, who do you think should be starting in net for the Flyers?
Go back and forth and ride the hot goalie. Laviolette was good at that in Carolina during the Cup run.
We're starving for championships in Philly. Charlie Manuel won a World Series with the Phillies and will forever be loved for that reason. Peter Laviolette won a Stanley Cup in Carolina and has done an excellent job with this Flyers team. Is Laviolette loved down there?
By most fans he is. Since he did not make the playoffs the two subsequent seasons, most will also agree that it was time to make a change behind the bench. But he is respected and loved by fans from that time frame for what he helped to accomplish.
Here is Tim Saunders and Chris Therien discussing tonight's matchup.
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